I'm a bit confused about the alpha acid content side of the chart. It mentions humulone and cohumulone, but then only points out the dark periwinkle part of the of the bars are cohumulone, and the lighter color isn't labeled at all. Is the light color humulone? And then what's the difference between the slashed area of the bar vs the rest of the bar? I'm just not sure how to read that part of the graph is all. Halp.

You know what? I'm gonna bet 8 digits or more. They're internet royalty, even more than Tim Schafer is video games royalty. Look at the numbers people spend on Child's Play - if even one of those folks gets in on this, Penny Arcade could go ad-free for... who knows?

You know what? I'm gonna bet 8 digits or more. They're internet royalty, even more than Tim Schafer is video games royalty. Look at the numbers people spend on Child's Play - if even one of those folks gets in on this, Penny Arcade could go ad-free for... who knows?

Judging from the comments they could have just put "kiss my ass" as the rewards and people would still be stabbing each other in a frenzied attempt to sign up. For the higher level rewards they could have "Come to Seattle and actually kiss my ass". I wonder if people would be so keen to give away their money (as opposed to just downloading a free ad blocker) if they had not gone down the Kickstarter route and offered an ad-free subscription version for those that wanted to pay.

"The elections, in my opinion, were a very well planned 'circus', just a show," said Maricela J. Becerra, a Administrative Support Coordinator and Graduate Assistant for the California State University of Long Beach who was born in Jalisco, "There is a meme going around online that says "No me pidas que respete los resultados de un proceso que no respetaste" [Don't ask me to respect the results of a process that you didn't respect] and I think that phrase pretty much sums up the sentimiento of the people marching…My hope for Mexico is that one day we will have a real and clean democracy …and more importantly, my hope is that my compatriotas mexicanos continue to speak up, que no se conformen! Many people say that Mexicans do not care, that we are used to living in a corrupt country… it’s time we get the control of our country back, it’s time the government works for everyone and not just those with money."

That Penny Arcade thing is fucking disgusting. I don't mind that they have adds, but I do mind that they're exploiting something that is suppose to help fund people who don't have the clout or the financial backing that Penny Arcade already has.

If they want to make a premium option that's fine, but don't start exploiting Kickstarter and their audience. You're a major corporation at this point, you don't get to crowdsource.

I'm not sure you're right about that Solario - I think the future of arts funding in general will be, if not crowdsourcing in its current form, then something like it. There just isn't going to be the profitability to support large curatorial infrastructure like record labels and publishing houses by mid century. This has its own problems, not least of which was pointed out most eloquently by our very own founding father, the Internet Jesus himself: "(Some things are going to remain one-way broadcasts for a little while yet. Books are one of them. The alternative is crowdsourced literature, echo-chamber writing and the transcription of a focus group session. And if you want that? Television already exists.)"

It may not be unequivocally a good thing but I think it's coming and I think it'll be pretty well across the board.(Shit, I think I just accidentally Rule 34'd my own post. Time for bed, said Zebedee.) Anyway, I think PA are just a little early to the party. It may not be pretty, but it's gonna be a Thing.

@Solario - you said "You're a major corporation at this point, you don't get to crowdsource", yet everyone was happy when Tim Schaefer did this, and while Double Fine don't count as 'Major' they're a LONG way off being a startup.

I'm entirely unsurprised that Penny Arcade have provoked some criticism. However, the reason that their funding drive will succeed is: They have a product that people like, and a strong and personal connection with that audience. People want to give them their money.

I do mind that they're exploiting something that is suppose to help fund people who don't have the clout or the financial backing that Penny Arcade already has [...] don't start exploiting Kickstarter and their audience.

This argument seems to suppose that donors to the PA fund will be people who were just browsing around Kickstarter looking for things to donate to. By accepting donations, PA would be sucking up the stream of money that could be going to smaller concerns.

Is that really plausible?

More probably, the post at PA will drive a certain fraction of their (gargantuan) audience to Kickstarter to donate. I don't know if many of those people will look around and find other projects they're interested in funding, but it is evident: Popular and successful campaigns are what make Kickstarter work. They are also free advertising for Kickstarter.

I feel that the people putting money in to the Kickstarter would still be giving them money if it was a donation button through paypal. It will happen regardless of what avenue they choose to get the money and at least through Kickstarter if they don't reach the goal of one year ad-free, they don't get ANY of the money. But I don't agree with the cries that this is driving attention away from better kickstarter projects. It isn't. At least not in the apocalyptic way that people are saying. But I like that people think it is, because more and more I'm seeing posts for some amazing projects that escaped my notice put up by people enraged about this.

What gets me is the crappiness of the rewards that seem to mock the method they're using of getting money and not really seeming to express a good enough thanks to the people providing the money to get rid of the ads. I mean, I know that you're putting money in to the goal and not the rewards, but $500 for a retweet? $7500 for a one day internship? Will they really lose that much money if they throw in a couple of download codes for the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness games? Or a spare Child's Play shirt? A (limited reward) little sketch of a penis cosplaying as a video game character by Gabe? I dunno. I just think they could have been a bit more creative.

My main gripe were also the rewards. I feel like a lot of the time (not necessarily most, but a lot of it) what makes Kickstarter projects work is that it ends up being somewhat of a pre-order for the product or a purchase for something exclusive. For example, with the Occupy Comics kickstarter, I wanted to support the cause on it's own right, but I bumped up my pledge because it also served as a pre-order for the anthology. But $7500 just to intern for a day? Or $1000 to be followed on twitter by Gabe? It just feel like they're preying upon the ease with which people can get starstruck by people they admire.

I think my biggest problem with the PA kickstarter is, who's really benefiting from this? Anyone who is that bothered by ads already has adblocker. What's even worse is that their goal won't even remove ads. It'll remove one specific type of ad, and only from the homepage. To actually get rid of every ad on the site? Yeah, that'll cost a million dollars. Which is something I would have less of a problem with if they actually made that the goal, but as it is it seems deceptive. I also wonder how much they actually make off advertising a year.

Along with the rewards being completely up their own ass and laughable, the stretch goals are completely negligible. Twelve extra pages of comics and a podcast, plus some mystery stuff that will likely be just as negligible. Ugh.